Everyone Knows
by NessaRose89
Summary: Stephen is back, what now? Fourth in He'd Lie series


Connor couldn't move. If he moved, he would wake up. If he woke up, he would realize that Stephen was still dead. So, Connor came to the conclusion that he couldn't move.

"Connor? Are you alright?" A soft voice asked from beside him, making him jump slightly.

"Fine," Connor replied, keeping his back against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm fine."

Jess nodded her head slowly, a worried frown on her face. "Abby told me that they said Stephen would be okay. He needs rest."

Connor merely nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving the door that Stephen was currently behind. Jess let out a sigh, gently placing her hand on Connor's shoulder. "He isn't going anywhere, Connor. You can go home, get some rest."

"I'm not leaving," Connor said quickly, his eyes narrowing as they turned to the woman beside him. "What if he wakes up?"

"Connor, Abby left two hours ago. Don't you want to-"

Abby. Connor hadn't thought about Abby since they had arrived at the ARC. Where had she gone, anyway? She was friends with Stephen, why hadn't she come to wait for the news? "How did Abby know about Stephen, anyway? She wasn't even here."

Jess's mouth fell open as she stared at Connor. "Connor, Abby came here with you when you brought Stephen in. She was here until she decided to go home."

Connor shook his head stubbornly. If Abby had been here, he would have known. "I didn't see her."

"That's not surprise, considering you haven't seen or spoken to anyone since he appeared," Jess snapped. She blinked in surprise, clearly having startled herself. "Sorry, I just..."

Connor was looking at the door again, but his mind was focused on those first few minutes Stephen had come through the anomaly. The look Abby had given him, like she knew something... but she couldn't.

"I need to be here when he wakes up," Connor finally said quietly, glancing at Jess. "I have to be."

Jess studied his face for a moment before gasping, her eyes wide. She let out a deep sigh before nodding. "At least sit in a chair."

The next person to "talk" to Connor was Becker. The man just appeared beside him, making Connor's heart jump in his chest. "Don't do that."

Becker just quirked an eyebrow, a small smirk on his face. "Do what?"

Connor rolled his eyes at the other man. "Did Jess send you? Abby sent her."

Becker shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "She might have mentioned you still being here." He looked at the door to medical, shaking his head. "When you and Abby were lost, we hoped you were still alive. As long as we didn't find your- well, we could hope." He turned his gaze back to Connor, "You always believed he was dead."

Connor swallowed hard, fighting back sobs as Cutter's voice invaded his mind. _Stephen...Stephen didn't make it._

"He told me he was dead. He said he saw him die. They found...they all said there was no way that he could have..." Connor broke off, clearing his throat once again.

"When I came to the ARC," Becker started, his eyes still fixed on Connor's face, "I thought that you and Stephen had to have been close. They way you were at the time...it was hard for me to believe that he was closer to Cutter than he was to you."

"He was my friend."

"He was more than your friend," Becker replied, shaking his head slowly. "How did I miss that? How did all of us miss that?"

Connor felt his shoulders fall. He closed his eyes hard, shaking his head. He couldn't do this now, he didn't want to pretend. Didn't want to lie. "Because we never said anything."

There was silence for a few minutes, Connor with his eyes still closed. He could feel the other man staring at him. "And Abby?"

"I love Abby," Connor replied instantly, opening his eyes.

Becker slowly nodded, finally moving his eyes away from Connor. "I never had the chance to meet Stephen, Connor. But I do know Abby. And I know you. I think you need to talk to Abby before you see Stephen."

Connor didn't reply, just watched as Becker turned and once again disappeared.

At this point, Connor was almost expecting Matt. Sure, it had been hours since he had seen Becker, but he knew Matt would appear sooner or later.

When he did, he merely looked at Connor for a moment before nodding his head. "You have a second chance, Connor. But you have someone else involved that you need to think about." He didn't even give Connor a chance to reply before he moved off down the hall.

Connor was sitting on the floor an hour later, his head leaning back against the wall and his eyes closed when he felt someone settle down beside him. "I knew about you and Stephen," Abby finally said, making Connor's eyes fly open and shoot toward her. She had a small smile on her face, though her eyes were red rimmed. "You were my roommate, Connor. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? You were always going out, Stephen was always hanging around you at the ARC. You two didn't even realize how you would just look at each other when you thought no one was looking."

"Nobody-"

"Who was going to notice? Cutter? He was to fixated on Claudia Brown. Jenny didn't know either of you well at that point. Lester didn't care. I knew."

"You never said."

"I saw how you were after," Abby admitted, shaking her head. "How broken you were. How you were trying to hide just how much. I had always figured you were keeping it a secret for a reason, so I had never asked."

Connor didn't know what to say, he just stared at Abby with his mouth hanging open. Finally, he cleared his throat and shook his head. "It's been years since I last saw him."

"Not for him. He came straight here from that room."

"We weren't even speaking when that happened. Helen-"

"I was standing right beside you when he came through that anomaly, Connor. It wasn't my name he said, or me he was trying to get to."

Connor continued to stare at Abby, once again not knowing exactly how to reply. She had just seemed to destroy every thought in his head about why he couldn't be with Stephen again... well, all except one. "You and I are-"

"I love you, Connor," Abby said bluntly, turning to him with a watery smile. "And I know you love me. But you changed when he died, like some of you just went with him." Connor fought back a smile at the cliché, but Abby just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. But it's true. I can't compete with him. And I really don't want to."

She leaned forward, pressing a kiss against Connor's cheek. "Even if he never said it, he does love you, Connor. Most people don't get another chance."

Abby left shortly after her little speech. Connor could honestly admit that he was upset about the way things turned out with Abby...but not enough to tell her she was wrong. If he had a chance to be with Stephen again, he was going to take it.

Connor had moved into medical about an hour ago, knowing Stephen was supposed to wake up soon. He had taken the chair beside the bed, staring down at the face he never thought he'd see again. There were cuts and bruises, but nothing else had seemed to change. "Connor?" Stephen rasped, making Connor wince at the sound. But at the same time his heart jumped in his throat at the sound.

"Hey," Connor said, slowly leaning forward and placing his hand on Stephen's arm. "How are you feeling?"

Stephen blinked slowly, his hand moving up the bed to touch Connor's. "There was an anomaly. I thought I was going to die, but it just appeared, and then I saw you."

Connor nodded, wondering exactly how he was going to explain this. "We thought you were dead. It's been three years, Stephen."

Stephen jerked at the answer, gasping in pain. Connor jumped to his feet, frantically trying to hold Stephen in place. "You're going to hurt yourself, stop it!"

"Three years?" Stephen finally gasped, his blue eyes piercing into Connor's. "How?"

Connor shook his head, sitting beside Stephen on the bed and slowly running his hand up and down Stephen's arm. "Cutter told us what you did. We all thought that you had been killed."

Stephen's eyes frantically searched the room, "Where is Cutter? And Jenny? I remember seeing Abby, but I don't-"

"Shh," Connor said, his heart aching. "Please, Stephen. Let me just...you're alive." Connor felt a tear slip from his eye and slowly make its way down his cheek.

Stephen turned his eyes back to Connor, a frown on his face. His hand slowly came up, brushing the tear away softly. "How could I die?" He rasped, "I had to know if you were alright." He hesitated for a moment, his hand falling back onto the bed. "Connor, Helen and I-"

"I don't care," Connor said, shaking his head and deciding that right now was not the time to be talking about any of this. "Just- just let me sit here for awhile first, alright?"

Stephen's eyes flickered over Connor's face, before he nodded slowly. His hand once again moved to Connor's and Connor gripped it tightly before bringing it up to place a soft kiss on Stephen's wrist.


End file.
